A Baser State of Nature
by Neko-chan -Silvered Tongue
Summary: "Oh, Grandmother!  What big teeth you have," Izaya murmured and finally glanced up to meet the wolfman's eyes, mouth curled into a silky-smug smirk.
1. Chapter 1

_Title:_ A Baser State of Nature_  
>Author:<em> Neko-chan_  
>Fandom:<em> Durarara!_  
>Rating: <em>T, eventual M [placed at "M" from the start – see Warnings]_  
>Pairing:<em> Shizuo/Izaya; Izaya/Shizuo_  
>Disclaimer:<em> Not mine~ I just like kidnapping the characters on a temporary basis._  
>Summary:<em> "Oh, Grandmother~ What big teeth you have," Izaya murmured and finally glanced up to meet the wolfman's eyes, mouth curled into a silky-smug smirk._  
>Warnings:<em> **I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH.** OP requested Shota!Izaya and specifically wanted his age to be _less than thirteen years old _(he is eleven at the beginning of the story). Furthermore, Shizuo is Beast!Shizuo and _not completely human _(he is a wolfman). This story does skirt taboo subjects because of the characters' physical aspects and there _will be sex_ at one point in the story. _Please_ don't read any further if any of these story elements make you uncomfortable._  
>Author's Note:<em> …for those brave enough to still proceed, I wanted to say thank you, and I hope that I manage to provide an engaging, psychologically explorative, fascinating, and touching story (yes, I realize that those are probably all impossible standards to completely achieve, but… OTL). One of the reasons why this prompt caught my attention was because I couldn't help but immediately think, "But what does it _mean_ to be considered 'human'?"

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><p><em>Prompt from the drrrkink meme -<em> Beast!Shizuo/Shota!Izaya - Angst, lots of fluff, shota  
>Soo...<br>Shizuo is a beast (wolfman preferably) who is locked up in a zoo, and each day is teased and laughed at by the people who visit. But one day a class on a field trip comes, and Shizuo receives his daily treatment of humiliation, but one of the students stays behind.  
>And he continues to come back each day, attempting to get Shizuo to talk to him.<br>Eventually, Shizuo becomes attatched to Izaya and starts falling for him, and agrees to go with him when Izaya suggests they run away.  
>Bonus<br>-Izaya is less than 13 years old (I want shoooota)  
>-Shizuo has animal-like features<br>-Takes place in Russia (fff idk)  
>-Shizuo doesn't wear anything while he's locked up<br>-Shotazaya and Shizubeast cuddling in Shizuo's cage at night

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><p><strong>A Baser State of Nature<strong>

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><p>There was always a sense of freedom that settled around when the humans came to stare: it was a reconfirmation that he was, truly, nothing more than a mindless beast, a creature that needed to be locked away for other people's safety. With their wide, terror-filled gazes and their gaping mouths, they stood as a mirror for the horror that Shizuo knew that he was.<p>

It was the acrid scent of fear that rose like a cloud bank around his cage, as thick as a dense fog, that always compounded the self-loathing that had been forever directed inward because Shizuo knew, instinctively, that what Man feared, Man also tended to hate. There would never be acceptance, never be understanding, in those staring eyes, and that acknowledgement was enough to make Shizuo huddle in on himself, arms wrapping tight around his knees to bring long, lanky limbs towards his chest to shield his nudity.

The distant, murmuring sounds of children eventually began to slip through the walls of self-hate and self-abhorrence that he had buried himself behind and Shizuo took a brief moment to make his way towards a corner of his paddock, as far away from the front of the cage as possible; children had always been the worst because they had the tenancy to throw whatever they had in their hands at the wolfman, thinking it funny to see how many objects would actually hit him.

There was one scent, however: one scent in the roiling, messy smells of Crayons and sticky sweets, child-sweat and synthetic fabrics, the sounds of their uniforms rubbing uncomfortably against damp skin loud in Shizuo's ears. The beast glanced up once he caught that scent, amber eyes scanning the crowd that huddled around the front of his cage-but the number of children were too many, and he could not narrow down its owner despite how he allowed his nostrils to flare in a gesture more feral, more bestial than he typically allowed himself to indulge in.

The group of children chattered amongst themselves, fingers pointing occasionally at Shizuo, and the wolfman kept away from the bars of the cage, kept away from _them_, and only lifted his upper lip in a silent snarl of rage when the first items began appearing in their hands. Shizuo was able to avoid the first throw, and the ones following were easy enough to ignore once he ended up slipping away into the part of his paddock that contained his bedding.

It didn't take long after that that the schoolchildren became bored; what was the point in lingering if the object of their torment had left? Some grumbled unhappily amongst themselves, but they all ended up leaving as a whole en masse, leaving behind trash and small school supplies that had dropped from their pockets.

All left… except for one child.

That enticing scent once more teased Shizuo's nose, and it twitched slightly as his blonde, shaggy head peeked out around the edge of his "bedroom," glancing towards the front to meet a pair of crimson-stained mahogany eyes. Those eyes were curiously frank, cold in a way that one normally didn't associate with children, and partially hidden beneath a mop of dark, borderline black hair. The child was all knees and elbows the way that the young tended to be, though Shizuo could still see the potential for hidden strength in the way that the boy stepped forward and wrapped his hands around the bars.

He was small enough to fit through.

Shizuo pushed back the sudden surge of disappointment that overcame him when the boy didn't.

They stared at one another for several long, drawn-out moments, deepening amber meeting a gaze that was ruby-flecked, and the boy finally broke the competition to turn his attention to the beast's overall appearance, taking in each detail with a gaze that had once more turned both interested and glacial. The child's eyes roamed from Shizuo's claw-tipped toes, up muscular legs that were dusted with a coat of dark gold fur, up thighs that rippled with hidden strength; he paused for a moment, lingering over the wolfman's naked groin, and the curiosity almost seemed to turn adult-but only for a moment, there and gone again-before the boy's eyes roamed higher: more golden fur, a broad chest, fingers that ended in nails that were black and dog-like, canines that were elongated and had a razor's edge, and it was there that the boy stopped.

"Oh, Grandmother! What big teeth you have," the boy murmured and finally glanced up completely to again meet Shizuo's eyes as his mouth curled into a silky-smug smirk.

"The better to eat you with, my dear."

As Shizuo's lips parted to speak, his words containing an edge of a low growl, the boy did not scream, did not run, did not look at the beast with horror-at the realization that Shizuo could speak, had at least _some_ hidden, human aspects to him. Instead, the child's smile broadened and _delight _filled his eyes.

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><p>The child began to visit him every day in the afternoon.<p>

Shizou didn't know why the boy continued to see him, moving past all of the other exhibits in the zoo to zero in on his own. And perhaps he should be pitied for feeling such things, but the wolfman began looking forward to the boy's visits: hiding away in his living area for the majority of the day until the first faint scent finally came to him on the quiet breeze, and it was only then that Shizuo slipped out of the bed-filled area to make his way towards the front of his cage.

"What is your name?" he asked on the second day.

"Orihara Izaya," the boy answered, crimson gaze bright as he never looked away. They stared at each other for several long moments, each challenging the other to look away first for some reason or another-Izaya because he hated losing and Shizuo because there was someone before him who did not look at him with disgust or fear in his eyes. "Do beasts have names?"

The wolfman glanced away at that stark question that managed to hit hard-and, oh, that knowing look in the boy's eyes let Shizuo _know _that Izaya had meant for the question and its insinuation to hurt-and it took a long while before the captive beast felt comfortable enough to reply, "They named me Shizuo when I first got here."

Izaya smiled at that, bright as the sun, and he idly rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Shizuo?" the brunette asked, though it was obvious that he wasn't expecting another answer. "Shizuo… I know~ I'll call you Shizu-chan."

It sounded like the name that a person would give to their _dog_, and Shizuo growled lowly in answer, teeth slightly bared in order to show his displeasure with Izaya's teasing. The boy, however, just laughed and lightly spun on one foot before again settling in front of the cage, hands wrapped securely around the bars. "Shizu-chan, Shizu-chan, Shizu-chan~ I think that it has a nice ring to it, don't you~?"

Shizuo did not reply to his pointed taunt, instead stepping up close to the bars so that he would tower over the child. He looked down and reached out, hands surprisingly soft and fur surprisingly silky as both caressed over the tops of Izaya's hands, where they clutched at the metal. "Why do you come back?" he asked, amber eyes so bright-_so bright_-as they met and held mahogany.

Izaya smiled at that, lips curling upwards into an expression that most would have termed a smile; but the wolfman _knew_ that it wasn't quite that because no one should have that look in their eyes as their mouth tilted upwards: it was a cold expression, reptilian and distant-a crocodile's smile and, frighteningly, it _suited _the boy. "Why?" he asked in return, moving just a bit closer. "Why do I come back, ne…? Ah, well, I suppose it's because I think that you're interesting."

He laughed then and leaned forward to brush his mouth lightly against Shizuo's; the beast only had the time to catch the sugar-sweet scent of candy on the child's breath, soft lips pressing against his own, and strong fingers wrapping around his wrists to make sure that Shizuo didn't have the chance to jerk away-fleeting impressions, there and gone again, and it was over all too soon as Izaya stepped away from the cage.

"…_why_?" Shizuo asked, voice lower than usual, the word nothing more than a rumbling growl that burrowed deep in the center of his chest, echoing and distorting and putting on display his feral nature.

The boy's smile deepened.

"Because I wanted to. And because I could."

He traipsed away once the words had left his mouth, feet skipping lightly, playfully, over the concrete of the sidewalk-small scraping sounds that grew fainter and fainter as he headed back towards the entrance. Shizuo stood still for several long moments after the child had left before tilting his head back and _roaring_ out into the sky: he knew that the boy was playing with him-he _knew_ this, realized the danger of the game that he was skirting, was aware of the fact that it didn't seem to matter in the end. Shizuo still felt drawn to the child and _hated_him for it and for the acknowledgement that Izaya would leave once Shizuo stopped being so "interesting."

All the beast could feel was rage and despair and all that he could taste was candy upon his lips.

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><p>The boy did not come to visit for several days after the stolen kiss.<p>

Shizuo continued to hide himself away from the hate and disdain and contempt-filled gazes of the visitors, holing himself up in the bedding area of his paddock-curled up beneath straw and scraps of cloth, he drowsed and did his best to try to close his awareness of the surroundings around him. It was hard to do so, however, and Shizuo discovered early on that there no longer was any freedom in the stares of most humans. The emotions embedded within most stares _hurt_, and there was freedom only in the gaze of one person.

It was pitiable thing, indeed; Shizuo knew that the boy would leave once he had grown bored with him.

And yet…

And yet.

And yet Shizuo still found himself slipping away from his "personal" area of the enclosure when Izaya's scent once more found its way to him. The wolfman padded on silent feet towards the entrance of the cage, stopping when he could go no further and bringing his hands up to wrap around the bars. He watched the boy with a muted amber gaze, perhaps too quiet.

Izaya had settled upon a rock formation not far from the cage's bars, but still too far away for Shizuo to touch-pointedly keeping just out of range, taunting the wolfman with his closeness without offering any sort of leeway or relief. It was a game to the child, cruel in the best and worst ways possible because he _still_ looked at the beast with a surprisingly neutral, frank, _interested _gaze. There was no judgment in those claret eyes: knowing that Shizuo was both beast and man, and yet the horror of that fact did not strike him or turn his eyes harsh with misunderstanding.

"I didn't think that you'd come back. I thought that you'd have already grown bored."

The child grinned at that, bright and as sharp as a blade's edge-and did not come closer, a fact which had Shizuo's upper lip curling away from his teeth in a silent, displeased snarl. "I was always going to come back-_will_ come back as long as you're interesting to me. But I wanted to see if you'd miss me if I didn't come back _right away_. Did you, Shizu-chan~?"

There was no point in answering. Izaya already knew that what he said would be a lie.

Crimson eyes brightened in delight, and that cruelly sharp smile just deepened a bit further. "Ne, ne! You _did_ miss me, Shizu-chan, didn't you~?" Those eyes, that too-red gaze, almost seemed omnipotent, catching in every detail and analyzing it-processing information at a frightening speed, turning over reactions and expressions and gestures, picking them all apart to get at the core of what drove the external reactions to get at the heart, the internal, ever-present _why?_.

The snarl this time around wasn't quite as silent, instead rumbling low in Shizuo's chest; it was an incredibly threatening sound, deep enough, low enough in vibration that it pressed against Izaya's eardrums, pressure tightening around his head and torso-and it _excited_ him, seeing the wolfman's rage and the very real threat that he'd pose.

…if he ever got out of his cage.

It was like finally coming across a new toy that he hadn't yet figured out, poking and prodding at things as a tongue would a sore teeth, finding sensitive areas, learning and mapping things out until Izaya had complete, intimate knowledge of _what made his new toy tick_. It was absolutely thrilling, and Izaya couldn't remember having this much fun in _years_! Everything else around him had become second-rate.

"Y'know, I could always leave…" The reminder was enough to cut the snarl off immediately, and Shizuo's eyes narrowed as they tracked each of Izaya's movements, breathing deep to take in the child's uniquely startling scent-so incredibly different from all the rest, and the thought of losing that scent so soon… it brought an ache to the wolfman's chest and he attempted to dispel it in a huff of breath.

And Izaya's eyes glittered with the knowledge of the power that he had over the beast, and his voice was the barest whisper when he ordered, "_Sit._"

It was… humiliating, having the body of a beast but the mind of a human-having another person _know_ this-and still be treated as nothing more than a mindless animal. But with the child, there might be a chance at companionship, someone to brush away the darkness and the loneliness and offer the promise of a future in some sort of context-it didn't matter _what_, just as long as Shizuo was no longer alone-and yet… the child was equally sadistic in realizing all this and still treating him as all the rest: only the look in his eyes giving lie to his words.

…but none of that mattered at the moment because Izaya's threat of leaving was still a very real one. It was with that thought in mind that Shizuo closed his eyes, ignoring how his ears burned in shame and how the corners of his eyes pricked, and he _sat_.

Humiliation or loneliness: the choice was between the metaphorical rock and a hard place, but Shizuo had had enough of his forced solitude, and though his pride took a hit and his temper spiked at the base display that the boy was putting him through… the shame paled in comparison to the feeling that tightened the wolfman's throat as Izaya finally moved off of the rock display and closer to the bars-_and stepped through_.

His breath hitched as he watched the boy from beneath his lashes, tensing slightly as Izaya made his way closer-still keeping his head down as the human child ran the palm of his hand over the mix of blonde fur and hair upon his head, murmuring, "Good dog."

But then Shizuo darted forward, wrapping his arms securely around the boy's waist and drawing him down to tuck securely against his chest, and the wolfman dipped his head to press against the bend of Izaya's throat-and _there_, finally, there was the scent of _home_. He breathed deep, drawing in the scent to settle permanently within his lungs, within the baser, the instinctive part of his mind that screamed out 'mine!,' and Shizuo's hands smoothed down Izaya's back when the child struggled against him, trying to soothe away the acrid scent of sudden fright.

Long, long moments later, Izaya's fighting tapered off when he finally realized that Shizuo wasn't going to attack him, and it was with a slight shift of _something_ in his voice as he whispered, "You're so _warm_."

And Shizuo just held him closer.

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><p>Izaya awoke to darkness and the unfamiliar sensation of someone holding him, of arms wrapped snugly around his chest and waist, tucking his smaller body against the solid warmth of a much <em>bigger<em> person-with legs tangled with the other's, his body pinned beneath a greater weight, a subdued sense of fear thrilled through his limbs, tensing and tightening in an age-old flight-or-fight response. But silky fur brushed against Izaya's arm, so incredibly soft and down-like, and he _knew_ whose body he was held against.

Wiggling a bit to free himself as much as he could in the beastman's hold, the eleven year-old glanced over his shoulder, curious mahogany gaze taking in the mix of animalistic and human features upon Shizu-chan's face; not quite knowing why he was doing such a thing, Izaya reached out as best as he could to smooth his fingertips over the skin just beneath one closed eye, marveling at how _delicate _it felt beneath his touch.

Lashes slowly lifted and a pair of amber eyes met and held Izaya's own.

"Oh, Grandmother! What big _eyes_ you have," Izaya whispered as he abruptly broke the silence, not bothering to struggle as Shizuo's arms tightened around his torso to tuck him closer still. The other's body heat was like a warm blanket that settled over the boy, comforting and familiar in a way that _shouldn't be so_ and-even more disconcerting to the child-_safe_.

Shizuo growled a muted chuckle in response, easing his hands down to cup over the boy's slim hips before letting his head settle closer so that he might nuzzle against the bend of Izaya's throat. "The better to see you with, my dear," he murmured and licked over the fluttering pulse point of the boy's throat.

Izaya made a face at that sensation and pushed at Shizuo's chest, trying to make more room between the two of them-trying to get the beast to stop. "That's disgusting. Knock it off, Shizu-chan."

"Make me," Shizuo answered with a laugh as he nipped his way over the damp bit of skin, reminding Izaya just how dangerous he _could _be should he choose to indulge in baser instincts. In reply to that, however, the boy put his knobby knees and elbows to use, aiming for tender areas-aiming to hurt so that the wolfman would loosen his hold around Izaya.

The boy managed to wiggle his way to freedom as Shizuo nursed various tender spots, and he scrabbled to his feet before pointing at the other in an almost accusing manner. "I told you to _stop_, Shizu-chan. Obviously you need to go back to obedience school, ne."

"I'm not your fucking _dog_," Shizuo snarled back and his temper finally snapped now that Izaya was blocked from the front of his cage and the boy had no chance of running away as a threat. "I may look like a beast, but you know that I don't _think_ or _feel_ like one, you little brat."

"Still doesn't change the fact that you _look_ enough like one, though, ne? And it doesn't change the fact that I'm not into…" here, the crimson-eyed boy floundered for just a moment, searching his memory for that one conversation that he had overheard from his sempais, the banter back and forth where one had said that he didn't want to have sex with his slightly overweight girlfriend because, and the rest of it came to Izaya as if he was still listening in, 'it'd be like fucking a whale and bestiality isn't all that appealing'-and, _there_, Izaya found the word that he was looking for: "I'm not into _bestiality_."

The words were said with a cruel glint to those claret-tinted eyes, and Izaya pointed to the wolfman's groin with a sense of triumph-where Shizuo's cock was half-hard, flushed a light pink and jutting partially away from his fur-dusted belly.

An emotion that Izaya couldn't pinpoint flared briefly in the wolfman's gaze, turning the amber to a burning shade of _gold_, but what surprised the boy the most was the fact that Shizuo made no move to hide himself in shame-no attempts to cover himself, as most would have, and instead left himself open, bared for ridicule from Izaya as he never looked away.

"I wouldn't have touched you," Shizuo answered with, words simple and unadorned.

And the boy reeled from beneath their force. The thought… the thought of this beast who looked like a man… the _realization_ that he had a _moral compass_ to live by when so many humans that Izaya had observed over the course years shallowly indulged themselves in gratification, in selfishness-doing what felt good to them, rarely considering the effect that their actions would have on others. Izaya had come to love humanity because of their flaws, and this was perhaps their greatest flaw of all: their lack of caring for other humans.

But here was this _beast_, this base _animal_ who should live life to its fullest by only doing what _felt good_-it was here that all of the boy's expectations came crashing to the ground. And it _frustrated_ him as much as it intrigued him, to see this duality of nature, of self, shown in this creature who _should _have been the lowest of the low.

"_You weren't supposed to be this way_," Izaya snapped angrily as he brought his hands up to cover his face, shocked at the fact that his fingertips came away wet with tears-crying silently, not _knowing_ why he was crying, and that very fact was something that terrified the boy to his core. The heels of his hands pressed tight to his eyes, attempting to stem the tide of weeping, and for the first time in his life, Izaya felt truly lost: he bet entire outcomes on the situations that he could elicit from others, and _this_ situation-which should have been so boringly simple that his interest would have waned within _days_-was nothing at all like he had predicted. And he _hated _knowing that he had lost the game, especially so early on.

Moments after realizing that he was crying, Izaya felt a pair of strong, warm arms come around him to scoop his smaller body up, tucking the boy against a solid chest that rumbled with something that might have been a purr if Shizuo had been more catlike. He felt himself being rocked as his cheek pillowed against the hard edge of a collarbone, and the tears began to slowly come to a stop as the steady throb of a heartbeat rhythmically pounded against him.

"…you weren't supposed to be like this," Izaya muttered quietly, and it didn't matter that he himself was a child-even the boy had to admit that his voice was sulky and petulant with foul temper.

"If I ended up being exactly the way that you thought I'd be, you'd have left after getting bored," Shizuo said in reply, still rocking the child against his chest as he padded further into the more secluded area of his pen, tucking them both into a corner away from prying eyes and resting his cheek against the top of Izaya's head once he had settled. "You'd have left, and you'd have left without ever looking back. And I don't want that. You're cruel and sadistic, but you still don't… look at me the way that everyone else does."

"Gonna look forward to breaking you into a million pieces when I finally leave," Izaya murmured under his breath, admitting aloud what they both knew-what they had both realized the moment that the child had looked at Shizuo without contempt and hatred in his eyes, the expression in his gaze almost seeming to _force_ the wolfman into actually _speaking _aloud for the first time in a very, very long time.

"…yeah. I know," Shizuo admitted as he dipped his head to nuzzle idly against the bend of Izaya's throat, gaze darkening slightly at how the boy's pulse jumped at the touch. Lightly, he again licked the sweat-dewed skin and continued, "But that's not right now. Go to sleep, Izaya."

Rocked in the embrace of the beastman, Izaya couldn't help but succumb.

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><p>TBC.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The next time that Izaya awoke, it was to the muted cool tones of pre-dawn, blues, grays, and residual blacks clinging to the corners of the cage, deepening shadows until it seemed as if all the world was drawn in monochromatic shades. The air was chilly, cold enough that Izaya could see his breath fog in the air, and he rolled over to burrow greedily into the source of warmth that was at his back. Shizuo's fur was silky against his cheek, and Izaya let his eyes go half-lidded as his ear pressed over the wolfman's chest, listening to the steady, lulling beat of the other's heartbeat.

Shizu-chan was a surprisingly comfortable pillow.

The pre-teen boy allowed himself to burrow closer, seeking the other's warmth more thoroughly, and wiggled his way until he was tucked completely beneath Shizuo's weight, face pressed firmly against the down-covered bend of the beast's throat. As Izaya breathed deep, drawing in the wolfman's scent, he expected to smell _animal_-musky and dank, unwashed fur, maybe rancid meat because Shizuo was first and foremost a beast and would never really consider "hygiene" as a necessary thing. But the wolfman smelled like none of those things: instead, Izaya took a deep breath of _sunshine_, warm and golden and perfectly summer-like, and his fur actually had the audacity to smell _sweet_.

Shizuo rumbled softly as he awakened in turn, and the arms that had already been secure around Izaya's waist and torso just tightened further, drawing the boy against his chest as the wolfman curled protectively around the child's much smaller body. "…I like waking up like this," Shizuo murmured, voice low and husky and still edged with sleep, and Izaya didn't bother hiding the shiver of disgust when the beastman yet again licked the bend of his throat.

Still, though, they boy can't help but snort quietly in response, one hand coming up to rub at the damp spot over his skin. "Better not get used to it," Izaya warned, crimson eyes flinty beneath his lashes. "While my parents aren't home often because of work and the nanny is usually busy with Kururi and Mairu, she _does _occasionally remember that I exist."

"Must be lonely," Shizuo murmured in answer to the boy's statement, dipping his head so that he could nuzzle lightly against the boy's collarbone, breathing deep to take in that familiar scent that was now overlaid with his own, the 'mine' subtle but still there all the same.

The words, however, were enough to make Izaya scoff in derision. "How is it lonely? I get the chance to be surrounded by my beloved humans without getting interrupted."

And yet, despite how _true_ those words really were, he couldn't help but feel a stirring of worry, of trepidation, when Shizuo turned his head to the side to meet his gaze with his own, amber eyes sharp-_so incredibly sharp_-and shockingly perceptive in that bestial face, and it felt so much as if a knife had sliced right through Izaya, cutting him to the core. Slowly, ponderously, Shizuo began to speak and never took his gaze away from Izaya's own claret, watching every detail of the child's expression to pick up clues through each small movement. "…it must be very lonely because, otherwise, why would you call them _humans _when you belong to the same species?"

Izaya hissed softly at that, eyes flashing angrily at the insinuation that the wolfman had posed to him. Instead of answering immediately, however, the boy reached up and yanked on one furred ear, twisting it so that Shizuo would first yelp in pain before snarling in anger, using his hold to drag the wolfman lower. His mouth crashed against the blonde's, effectively silencing the sounds of irritation and of rage; he shoved the other, using surprise and his slight weight to push Shizuo onto his back. Straddling over the wolfman's chest, Izaya _kissed _him, mouth crushing and rough and punishing against the other's.

It was only when Shizuo was reaching for him that Izaya scrabbled backwards, off of the blonde and towards the front of the cage so that he could, once again, make his escape. All the while, his mahogany eyes flickered with cruelty, wanting to _hurt_ the wolfman for the words that Shizuo had dared to say to him, to _punish_ Shizuo for daring to speak such an untruth. "And how would you know anything about that? You're just a dumb beast, too stupid in your own nature and shackling yourself with some sort of _human_ moral compass that's beyond your ability to understand-and gaining _nothing_ from it in the end because it's keeping you from taking what you _really_ want. You think that I'm lonely? That I need to be pitied? At least I'm not pathetic."

Rage blanketing his vision so that all he saw was red, Shizuo roared in fury and lunged towards the boy; he didn't know what his rage would cause him to do, but all that mattered to him was getting ahold of Izaya and hurting the boy like he had purposefully hurt Shizuo-evening the balance and punishing the child for his petty-minded cruelty.

But Izaya had slipped through the bars and was already dancing out of reach, watching Shizuo from beneath his lashes. "You're just a stupid beast, Shizu-chan, and this is where you'll always belong. In a _cage_."

* * *

><p>Three weeks.<p>

It had been three weeks since Shizuo had last seen Izaya, and each day stretched on and outwards like an eternity-a forever sort of time where things bleakly settled into a routine. Day after day came the jeers and, though Shizuo had been able to handle them once upon a time ago, that time had left him: there was despair and hungry, wide eyes that held onto misunderstanding and contempt for that which they did not understand. What was the most maddening was the fact that they did not _want_ to understand, which left Shizuo, in the end, with less than nothing.

He withdrew into the shadowed parts of the cage, moving with the slowly shifting sun above so that no zoo guest could see him completely; hidden away from prying eyes, he spent each day, each hour, remembering the last encounter that he had had with Izaya: words said, lines drawn, pushing boundaries that the boy very obviously had placed down for a reason. And yet… Shizuo could still _see_ that particular light in the child's eyes that gave away that the words coming forth from his lips were, at least in part, _lies_. Denial had been immediate, as had fury and cruelty-and the wolfman was beginning to find himself _not caring _about the loneliness that must fill Izaya's days just as long as the boy would one day come back because he could no longer live without him, without his scent, without the warm press of his body against Shizuo's chest.

It did not matter that Izaya's visits had been few.

It did not matter that he was just a child, a boy who was years from becoming an adult.

It did not matter that the crimson-eyed human was cruel and capricious.

There was still something buried, hidden away from view, from acknowledgement, from Shizuo's ability to understand just yet-layers upon layers that still needed to be unraveled before true comprehension dawned; but until that moment finally came, all that mattered to the beastman was the fact that Izaya's soft scent soothed something deep within him. The boy had become _necessary_. But now he was gone.

As the days continued to pass, Shizuo became more and more withdrawn-he ate less, slept less, and time passed by in a monochromatic haze. He could hear the zookeepers talking amongst themselves, each wondering what it was that had happened to him that would so change him: perhaps a change in diet, the shifting weather towards the spring and summer months-anything and everything had the chance of being a possibility, and Shizuo listened to it all: the workers never once realizing that the beast in question could understand each and every word, able to communicate in turn, and yet still never able to bring himself to admit: I finally _know_ what people mean when they speak of 'soulmates' because all I feel is desolation at the thought of never seeing this one human child.

Three weeks and four days after Izaya's last visit, the boy finally returned.

It was nightfall and the zoo had been closed for hours, but Izaya had hidden himself away, keeping out of sight from the security guards that occasionally roamed the walkways from time to time. He slipped from his hiding spot, making his way through the paths that led to Shizuo's enclosure, and he stood before the cage: standing just out of reach, mahogany eyes unreadable as Shizuo made his silent way towards the bars at the first hint of the child's scent.

The wolfman and human boy stared at one another, each gauging the other's reaction. Unsurprisingly, it was Izaya who finally broke the silence as he stated, "You missed me."

There was no point in denying it; Shizuo had lost a great deal of weight. "…yes."

Shizuo's admission brought a slow, pleased smile to the boy's face, and it was enough for Izaya to take a step closer to the cage, gaze flinty as he tilted his head back to continue meeting the beast's eyes. "You understand that whenever you do or say something that I don't like, I'll leave? I can _leave_ and _never_ come back to see you again, Shizu-chan. Do you understand?"

Again: "Yes."

Izaya's smile deepened then, and he finally stepped forward to slip through the bars of the enclosure, slim body easily wiggling into Shizuo's paddock. His head tilted back further then, baring the long, vulnerable line of his throat, and Shizuo gave a slow, needy sound low in his throat-almost a whine, but not quite that bestial-and crowded against Izaya, burying his face against the bend of the child's neck. Izaya's familiar scent, _mine mine mine mine __**mine**_, filled Shizuo's senses and, for the first time in nearly a month, he finally breathed deep.

"Shizu-chan," Izaya murmured quietly, and Shizuo pulled away, still silent, to meet the boy's coldly amused gaze. There was cruelty there, but that was a trait that the wolfman already had acknowledged that Izaya indulged in: dangerous for himself, and yet… Shizuo could not help himself regardless of that knowledge. "Today was my birthday."

"Happy Birthday," Shizuo whispered in answer to the newly-minted twelve year-old, reaching out to trail a claw-tipped finger over the sharp edge of Izaya's jawline. The human child shivered at the touch, but it was not due to fear: instead, the brunette tilted his head back further, eyes glittering in the faint light of the moon, and caressed his own fingertip along Shizuo's jaw in turn.

"I wondered," Izaya began, voice deceptively soft as it twined along and through the nighttime air. "I wondered, since the last time I saw you, what I would ask from you today. I wondered and wondered, and nothing ever came to me. Until last night, and I thought of the perfect present. Show me how well you can pretend to be _human_, Shizu-chan. Kiss me."

The boy's smile was now as sharp as a blade's edge, a delicately honed razor that could so easily part skin and draw blood with just the barest touch. It was a dangerous smile, for certain, and it echoed the emotions that Shizuo could see flickering in Izaya's gaze: a challenge, his words-the request, what he wanted for his birthday. So like the child, it was such a cruel thing to ask for: deliberately drawing the line between them both, forcing Shizuo to realize just how distinct the line was between _beast_ and _human_: he on one side and Izaya on the other. A harsh reminder and one intended to strike hard and low, the first of several that aimed to eventually break the wolfman in the way that Izaya had promised.

And yet, despite knowing that…

Shizuo's fingers drifted along the delicate curve of Izaya's jaw, carefully aware of his thick claws as his fingerpads brushed over the child's ears, tracing the intricate whorls and dips and shell-like construction-fascinated with how incredibly _complex_ they were-and, after a time, shifted his hold so that he could bury his fingers in short, clean, _soft_ hair. The wolfman cupped the back of Izaya's head, the thumb of one hand pressing against Izaya's chin, gently coaxing the boy to tilt his head upwards. His own descended, and Shizuo brushed his onyx-rimmed mouth against the child's own, a light glide, a press, of lips against lips, and then he pressed _more_.

Slightly more demanding than before, Shizuo's mouth nuzzled against Izaya's, sharp teeth scraping against the boy's lower lip-and Izaya shivered in anticipation at the threat of danger, at the chance that Shizuo might actually _hurt_ him, but baser instincts remained carefully shackled as the wolfman took his time with the kiss: deepening it with a slow glide of his tongue, slipping into the wet, delicious heat of Izaya's mouth as the boy gasped in surprise. And they were _kissing_, with Shizuo's tongue brushing in languid, hungry strokes against Izaya's own as the child tightened his hold on Shizuo's arms, tugging him closer, giving soft, almost mewling sounds into the kiss, mouth opening _wider _and in welcome with each idle thrust of Shizuo's tongue.

But when Izaya pressed his groin against one of Shizuo's thighs, legs greedily wrapping around the blonde's muscled limb, and the wolfman realized that the boy was _hard_ and his arousal scented the air to make it that much more heady… it was enough to make Shizuo shudder, instincts tugging upon the restraints that he had placed upon them. To deny himself from dominating, from claiming, from having that smaller body writhing beneath his own: the hunger grew and grew and _grew_. And shattered in a groaning, insatiable maw when Izaya finally broke the kiss, rocking his hips against Shizuo's leg as his eyes glittered with lust; with lips that were kiss swollen and bruised, Izaya said, "Let's up the ante to see just how thoroughly you can _fake_ being human. I want you to suck me off, Shizu-chan."

The words were enough to make Shizuo pause and shudder, breathing hitching in small, frantic little pants as he tried-_desperately so_-to retain some notion of sanity within himself at hearing Izaya's order. Yet… the urge to give in, to do what Izaya wanted, was such an incredibly strong one: the thought of having this small body beneath his own, arching in pleasure and with eyes that no longer glinted with malice but instead went wide with surprisingly unexpected pleasure… the image was enough to finally _break _the bonds that Shizuo had so carefully shackled his baser instincts with.

Shizuo growled, low and soft and hungry, and eased down to his knees, crouching low so that the boy's groin was level with his face-with the mouth that Izaya was watching so intently from beneath his lashes, cheeks flushed and breaths gasping quietly and yet remaining loud enough to stretch the silence that lay between them. The wolfman's low growl eased into a rumbling purr as he moved closer, cheek rubbing idly against the front of Izaya's jeans, and he could feel _heat_ and _hardness_ against the edge of his jaw.

"_Shizu-chan_," Izaya snapped, angry and impatient and anxious to _know_ what something so adult felt like-indulging in that catlike curiosity, the urge that had always sent him poking at things that should have left well enough alone. That tendency had been what had encouraged him to stay behind to _watch _Shizuo that very first time, had coaxed him into returning time after time-and it was the daredevil, carelessness towards his own morals that had brought the demand to his lips, had him burying his fingers in the silky mix of fur and hair, tugging at both viciously.

The pain was enough to gain a snarl out of Shizuo, and bright, predatory amber eyes glinted up at Izaya from the shadows at his feet; that almost _knowing_ stare was the only warning that Izaya had before Shizuo had picked him up, shifting so that he could _pin_ Izaya's smaller frame against a wall. The boy's eyes went wide and he scrabbled desperately for a hold as Shizuo lifted him even _higher _until the pre-teen's legs hooked over Shizuo's fur-dusted shoulders and the only thing that he could do to steady himself was to bury his fingers in Shizuo's hair, clutching.

"You're _mine_," came Shizuo's rumbling voice as his damp breath fanned over the delicate wings of a hipbone, the wolfman's tongue dipping into the indentation of Izaya's navel. The wet, teasing touch was enough to earn a shudder from the boy, a quiet sound of pleasure, of pleading, as Izaya's fingers combed through the soft mess of Shizuo's fur and hair mix, trying so very hard to ignore how his hands _shook_. And still, that guttural sound continued on: "If I ever smell another person on you, I'll kill them. You're mine. _Mine_."

Any and all form of protest finally fell quiescent at the sound of Izaya's jeans ripping, material falling about his hips and thighs, cool night air caressing over an erection that was already damp with pre-come. The boy gave a soft whine, quietly needy-and so very, very soon that sharp-edged sound slipped into a low cry as Izaya's legs tightened around Shizuo's shoulders, thighs clenching greedily and fingers scrabbling for some type of hold that would steady him.

But there was nothing, nothing to hold on to, nothing to use to break against the pleasure that he found himself succumbing to:

There was heat and the slick wetness of saliva and the satin-smooth glide of Shizuo's tongue as he brushed it along the underside of Izaya's erection-tasting, teasing, seducing the boy into this intimacy that he himself had invited. Izaya shuddered roughly when the wolfman finally drew his cock completely into that hot mouth, and he huddled over Shizuo's head, clinging tightly as his frantic breaths echoed against the shell of the beast's ear. And he swallowed, over and over and _over _again around the boy, offering friction and suction and the danger of teeth as a canine brushed against the sensitive head of Izaya's cock before bobbing back down to seal black-edged lips around the base of the human's erection.

Shizuo was not merciful in his pleasure: wave after wave of ecstasy broke against Izaya, and it wasn't long before the boy was tightening his hold on the wolfman, sobbing out Shizuo's name as he finally came-climaxing as his body arched and fingernails scored shallow furrows over Shizuo's cheek, spilling his release down the wolfman's throat; and Shizuo _swallowed_, mouth still clasping greedily onto Izaya's now-softening erection, milking the boy dry-knowing, instinctively, that this was the very first orgasm that he had managed to achieve through someone else's touch. And it was that knowledge that Shizuo _savored_, this small bit of Izaya that would always be his.

"…I hate you," Izaya whispered against a furry ear.

The beastman licked his way from the base of Izaya's cock to the head, cleaning sensitive skin with languid sweeps of his tongue, and he hummed quietly in agreement because he _did _hate the human child in turn: but was willing to admit an even stronger truth to himself, something that Izaya was still willfully blind to-

_I hate you, I hate what you do to me, but I __**need**__ you so much more._

When the boy was finally clean, Shizuo carefully eased Izaya's legs from his shoulders, lowering the light body so that he was once more cradled against the wolfman's broad chest, warm and safe and surrounded with the sweet scent of sunshine-the familiar scent of Shizuo, no matter how hard Izaya had tried to detest it. Even fighting as hard as he could, as long as he could, the steady thumping of the beast's heart had become synonymous with the word "home."

"I'll someday break you, Shizu-chan," Izaya whispered against the bend of Shizuo's throat, face pressing closer to the wolfman's comfortable heat. In answer, Shizuo just tightened his hold around Izaya's slim frame, his own body curling around the other until the boy was completely surrounded by heat and musk.

"But not before I make you love me," Shizuo murmured in answer, voice low and husky and _feral_ as it fanned delicately over Izaya's cheek, as gentle as one of the beastman's touches-and the words so incredibly _knowing_ as the taste of the boy's seed lingered upon his tongue.

Izaya said nothing.

* * *

><p>TBC.<p> 


End file.
